Mathematics
plays an essential role in our everyday lives. That’s why our ancestors had
built their own system on how to deal with mathematical or just basic everyday
problems like how to distribute 9 pieces of bread to 10 people.
We
cannot escape math since it is a way of life and without math there would be no
buildings, no businesses and most certainly no electronic gadgets. Math has
affected not just the field of study but also economics, agriculture and most
especially the society. It also affects music and it is proven by the Harmonic
Series. It was discovered that the intervals between musical notes are in whole
number ratios.
Mathematics
helped develop our critical, logical and analytical thinking. It is therefore
inevitable for us not to ask these following questions: On how the early people used math even before
discovering the word Mathematics? How they were able to communicate with each
other given that math is the language of the universe but is still unknown to
them at that time? And how did math develop?
BBC’s
The Story of Maths is a documentary talking about the development of
mathematics. From the Ancient Egyptian’s unique units of measurement, the
Babylonian’s Base 60 Number System to the Grecian’s most renowned mathematicians’
contributions.
The
Egyptians are known to be the earliest math innovators. They used body parts to
represent units of measurement. They have an unusual way of multiplying and
dividing and they also use the Eye of Horus to represent fraction and are also
known to first use decimal system.
The
Babylonians are known for their Base 60 Number System which helps us tell the
time. That is why there is 60 seconds in 1 minute and 60 minutes in 1 hour.
Babylonians are also known for using quadratic equations to measure land.
The
Greeks are known for housing the greatest mathematicians of all times namely
Pythagoras, Hippasus, Plato, Euclid, Archimedes and Hypatia. They all
contributed to different branches of Mathematics like Geometry and Algebra and
are also known for helping with the transformation of mathematics. Some of
their contributions are Pythagoras’ Pythagorean Triangle, Hippasus’ discovery
of the Irrational Numbers, Plato’s 5 regular platonic shapes, Euclid’s Axioms
and Archimedes’ discovery of how to get the volume of a sphere.
After
knowing all these, it is now more possible to students like me and those that
are not fond of math to appreciate mathematics. We would be able to see the
beauty that math brought us. It can change our view of math and see that we can
benefit from learning it not just in mind but also in heart. We would also
learn that math is not just about solving complicated problems but even more.
By: DAISIC DE ASIS BELLO
math is good, sometimes it's difficult and complicated to understand. :)
ReplyDeleteTrue, Math has been a part of our everyday lives but as we learn more about Math it gets more and more complicated. Good for those who are born to be good at it, they can easily understand and even enjoy the lesson but what about those who were born to be good in a different area and sadly, Math isn't a part of it? Others have the patience to understand it bit by bit but others just give up in the process.
ReplyDeleteMath is very important, it is involved on everything we do in our everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree that knowing a little about the history of mathematics can really help people appreciate math. It is also true that it has been part of our lives and it is inevitable not to have it involved in every actions or thinking we do.
ReplyDeleteMath really plays a major role in our daily lives. Without it, we will not prosper.
ReplyDelete